The four convicts in the case – Mukesh Singh, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma – have challenged the death sentence awarded to them by the Delhi High Court.
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Taking note of delay, a bench of Justices Dipak Mira, C Nagappan and R Banumathi said that it would take up the case on each Monday and Friday after lunch from July 18 onwards. Significantly the court also allowed the plea of Nirbhaya’s mother and father to implead them in the case. “The entire court was filled with senior advocates, the likes of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, senior advocates P.P. Rao and Kapil Sibal… yet we appointed Mr. T.R. Andhyaarujina and Mr. K. Parasaran as amicus…”
Mukesh, Vinay, Pawan and Akshay were awarded death penalty by trial court in the gang rape and murder case which was later confirmed by Delhi High Court.
The court had adjourned the case as Amicus Curiae Raju Ramachandran and Sanjay Hedge had sought time, since the case records had reached them a few days ago.
Ramachandran was also the amicus curiae in deciding the appeal of Ajmal Kasab in relation to his conviction in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case and also appeared for 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Abdul Razak Memon.
The Supreme Court had on April 4 finally begun hearing the appeals after keeping it on cold storage for more than two years. The juvenile convict has already walked free after serving three years at a juvenile home while another accused – Mukesh’s brother Ram Singh – committed suicide inside Tihar Jail during the trial. They were on their way back home after watching the evening show of Life of Pi at a theatre in Saket mall.
The accused brutally gang-raped the physiotherapy student, beat up her friend and then dumped them off the moving bus.
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On Tuesday, justices will weigh the death sentence of Dawud Spaulding, condemned to die for killing 28-year-old Erica Singleton and 31-year-old Ernest Thomas in Akron in December 2011.
